“Early user interface (UI) practitioners were trained in cognitive psychology, from which UI design rules were based. But as the field evolves, designers enter the field from many disciplines. Practitioners today have enough experience in UI design that they have been exposed to design rules, but it is essential that they understand the psychology behind the rules in order to effectively apply them.”

A slim volume but packed with information. “Designing with the Mind in Mind” is definitely a keeper and something to keep within easy reach. Jeff Johnson has put together an understandable set of guidelines on how the brain and design work best.

I’ve been sucking down the same Oban, Glenmorangie 18, Laphroaig 10 and Highland Park 12 for many years now and it’s about time I brought in something new. “101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die” by Ian Buxton will be my guide.

Coolhunting has a good review, “[Buxton] focuses generally on bottles that are neither obscure nor prohibitively expensive. Buxton’s love of whisky jumps off of the page with each story he has to tell about the geography of Scotland, the history of distilleries, the stories behind some of the unique companies that create award-winning blends. Of the whiskies included in the book, 72 are from Scotland while the rest hail from Ireland, England, Japan, Sweden, Canada, India and the U.S.”

Get your drinking muscles ready because the World Spirits Competition in San Francisco is March 18-20. Here are the 2010 results in a PDF if you want to start an office pool for 2011 winners.

“Written by Steven Heller and Elaine Lustig Cohen, the book details the many aspects of the life of Alvin Lustig including his work in both graphic and interior design, how he evolved as a designer, his interest in education and his passion for changing the world through his creations. The breadth of his understanding of design covered many mediums and from the very beginning of the book you begin to understand that every aspect of his career was intertwined.”

The Designer’s Review of Books gives a nice review to a fun book. If you’re a fan of Lustig and his decades of work, you’ll like this book.

“A coin-operated glass-and-chrome wonder, Horn & Hardart’s Automats revolutionized the way Americans ate when they opened up in Philadelphia and New York in the early twentieth century. [...] The Automat served freshly made food for the price of a few coins, and no one made a better cup of coffee. By the peak of its popularity—from the Great Depression to the post-war years—the Automat was more than an inexpensive place to buy a good meal; it was a culinary treasure, a technical marvel, and an emblem of the times.” The book, “The Automat” by Diehl & Hardart, was a quick read, recommended.

And the depressing end of the Automats? Most of them (in New York, at least) were turned into Burger Kings.